I have a friend who's a frequent traveler who's most of the time always out of the United States. While he's always traveling, his purchases done in other countries are done over his credit cards. He prefers using his frequent traveler credit card in buying his plane tickets as these that allow him to accumulate travel air miles. Whenever he buys plane tickets, can always redeem his accumulated travel miles to avail of discounts on his plane...more
So, you have decided you need a credit card. However, you must remember that not all credit cards are created equally. Your friend's credit card doesn't mean that it is also the best for you. Before going to this bank and get its credit card, you must consider the several factors that you should take into consideration when deciding which credit card you want to get.Some of those factors include:o Interest rate. When you are the type of person...more
This is the perfect topic for the first month of a brand new year!Staying late started innocently enough: "If I just stay a little latertoday, I can catch up' on this work I haven't been able to get to." Eighthours went to nine. It became a habit. Then: "If I just take this readinghome with me, I can 'catch up' after the kids go to bed." Nine hours went toten. You did this on a regular basis; 60-hour weeks became the norm. Sure,if you're starting a new business or have an important short-term project,you'll have to put in some extra hours. But if years later you're stillworking those hours, it's now a habit. You have forgotten what it's like tohave a free weeknight or weekend.Where do we draw the line when it comes to life balance? Is the workerthe one who draws it? Does that task belong to our companies or to society?It's difficult to define where personal responsibility ends and companies'responsibility begins. I think both share it. In the final analysis,responsibility for your life is yours alone. You must draw the line andinsist on leaving work on time to create the balance for yourself. If youdon't, you will perpetually chase the clock.I've studied many successful people and...more
You know you need to learn this method:- If you use your email and voice mailboxes to store things you need to dobut don't have time to address right now- If your brain swims with all kinds of ideas and things you need to do- If the location of your stacks of paper on your desk determines itscontents (the upper left hand corner of the desk means...more
Do you ever feel like your mind is a million miles away? You can watchsomeone in a meeting who is "somewhere else," and they have a far-away,glassy look to the eye. You know they are not hearing a word of what isbeing said. They may be with you physically, but their minds are somewhereelse, thinking about some meeting, worrying about that errand,...more
I was an avid reader growing up. I've read the Little House on thePrairie series probably 30 times and an unknown number of Black Beauty andNancy Drew novels. I remember sitting for hours at a time, in the corner ofour living room in my daddy's favorite recliner, absorbed in the stories. Mymother would come fuming into the living room occasionally, demanding, "Didn't you hear me call you??" I would look at her, confused, as I came back toreality, and answer honestly, "No, mommy I didn't." And that was thecomplete truth!That level of concentration is very hard to achieve today. There are somany things competing for our attention in the workplace, that it's oftenvery difficult to concentrate. Do you have "half-done" projects all overyour office and your home? Do you get distracted easily and tend to blowlike the wind in a many different directions? Do you continually talk toyourself about all the things you need to do ("I don't know do I talk tomyself?")?If so, this article is for you. There is a fine line between ineffectivedistractedness and effective juggling. The former is created by Default, andthe latter is created by Design. I call the ineffective type the "Butterfly"and the...more
A survey respondent told me, "Meetings are my big timewaster. I haveliterally spent entire days in meetings. I not only get nothing done at mydesk but also inherit additional work. I suppose if I could wish for onething it would fewer meetings. Hey,...more
Believe it or not, the success of your attempt to collect a debt is usually decided right at the beginning of your phone call - with the very first thing you say after the other party says hello. Knowing exactly what you are going to say - and...more
When is 3 percent better than 6 percent? Yeah, we all know the answer, but only until the prices of the securities we already own begin to fall. Then, logic and mathematical acumen disappear and we become susceptible to all kinds of special cures...more
With the euro down nearly 15% this year and at a two-year low against the U.S. dollar, the world's largest exporting nation is worth a good look. So is another country that has thriving exports in spite of a stronger currency. We're talking about...more
Building a solid customer base is a necessity of any small business. Often times these smaller businesses cannot compete effectively with larger companies in terms of resources. For example, Tom's mini-Mart is not going to be a match for Farmer...more
There are probably very few forms of investment where you don't need money to make money.When you try borrowing money from your local bank to purchase shares in that bank you will most certainly be shown the door in a polite way! This will quicly...more